I live near Emerson Field here in Concord. It’s a lovely common area surrounded by pretty houses and it features an enormous flagpole that is lit at night. Last evening was incredibly somber because though the Christmas lights were merrily shining from all the houses, the flag at the very center was at half-mast.
The grief in Newtown must be unimaginable and the initial reaction of every parent among us was surely to hold our little ones close, regardless of their age. But the human heart is awesomely commodious and (especially in this season) “though our hearts be wrapped in sorrow” there’s always room for a little comfort and just a touch of joy.
“Ar Hyd y Nos” (All Through the Night) is a Welsh folksong sung to an old tune that was first published in 1784 by Edward Jones’ in his “Musical and Poetical Relics of the Welsh Bards” with lyrics written (in Welsh) by John Ceiriog Hughes. Since translated into many languages there are numerous versions, including the relevant one below.
“The Wassail Song” (with selected verses here) is a traditional English Christmas carol, circa 1850, and refers to the 19th Century practice of ‘wassailing’, where groups of orphans or vagabonds would dance their way through the wintry streets and offer to sing good cheer if a householder would give them a drink from his wassail bowl or even allow them to stand beside the warmth of his hearth for a few moments. The wassail bowl itself contained a hearty combination of hot ale, apples, spices and mead… “just alcoholic enough to warm tingling toes and fingers of the singers”
This short medley is found on Yo Yo Ma’s sublime 2008 album, “Songs of Joy & Peace”
LISTEN TO THIS EARLY SELECTION – Sunday 15 December
The Wassail Song
Here we come a-wassailing
Among the leaves so green
Here we come a-wand’ring
So fair to be seen
Love and joy come to you
And to you your wassail too
And God bless you and send you
A Happy New Year
And God send you a Happy New Year
We are not daily beggars
That beg from door to door
But we are neighbours’ children
Whom you have seen before
Love and joy come to you…
God bless the master of this house
Likewise the mistress too
And all the little children
That round the tables go
Love and joy come to you…
Good master and good mistress
While you’re sitting by the fire
Pray think of us poor children
Who are wandering in the mire
Love and joy come to you…
All Through the Night
Deep the silence ’round us spreading
All through the night
Dark the path that we are treading
All through the night
Still the coming day discerning
By the hope within us burning
To the dawn our footsteps turning
All through the night
Star of faith the dark adorning
All through the night
Leads us fearless towards the morning
All through the night
Though our hearts be wrapped in sorrow
From the hope of dawn we borrow
Promise of a glad tomorrow
All through the night
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